Storage-battery insulation.



J. N. DAVIS. STOBAGE BATTERY INSULATION. APPLICATION l-"ILED MAY 27, 1912.

1,088,210. I Patented Fb.2 4,1914

JASPER N. DAVIS, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

STOBAGE-BATTERY INSULATION.

Speciflcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 24., 1914.

Application filed May 27, 1912. Serial No. ?00,002.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, J ASPER NEWTON a DAvIs, citizen of the United States, residing the in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Storage-Battery 1nsulation'; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had t-o the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which` form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvement-s in storage battery insulation, my object being to provide a construct-ion to prevent shortcircuiting of the' cells between the positive and 'negative plates. In batteries of this character the positive' and negative plates are composed of a sort of grid or foraminated plate 'constructed to containa filling of' active material, the filling 'of the negative plate consisting of litharge, and that of the positive plate of peroxid of lead. These plates when so prepared are assembled in cells and formed into a complete battery in the well-known manner; During the constant use and chargng of the battery, the positive plates deteriorate by the sloughing off of their active material which falls down and accumulates inthe space in the bottom of the jar therefor. As this disintegrated material accumulates, the spaces between the supporting members located in the lower part of the jar, are filled up to the elements, then the active material makes contact with' ids of the ositive and negative 'plates of t e cells in th cuits the positive and negative elements of the cells, .with the result that local action takes place and the ener y stored in the elements of the cells when e arged, is adually discharged' and the battery as a w ole does not give its :full output of energy on such charge.

improvement-consists in ap lying an M insuihting binding to the edges o the neg r ative plates. Ths binding may be applied in the 'case of old batteries to the lower por tions only of the negative plates when-the battery is being cleaned or repai id, thus preventing said accumulated, dsintegrated, active material to make contact with the grid of the positive plates whichwould, to a great extent, bring it into active use again.

latter.

e battery which short-cin Hence, by the use of my improvement, I Increase and maintain the capacity and life ofthe battery. In the case of new batteries t s preferable to apply the insulating binding to the entire outer edge of the grid when the grid is manufactured and before the grid is pasted with the negative active -material, the said binding surrounding the entire, grid and preventing short-circuiting between any portions of the positive and negative plates.

It is preferred 'in'the case of the outside negative plates of each cell in the battery, to have the insulator extend entirely across the plates on the outside, up' to a suflicient height to prevent the disintegrated mate rial from the positive plates, from filling in between the wall of the jar and casing the -cell to' be short-circuited at this point.

Having briefly outlined my improved con struction, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being .made to the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

Inthis drawing: Figure 1 is a det-ail view of a negative plate of a storage battery with my improvement applied to the 1ower'por tion there'of. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the insulating material extending entirely around the edge of the negative mem ber of' the battery, being permanently se-.

cured to the grid in the manufacture of the Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken through the battery on the line 3-3 Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4 Fig, 3. Fig. 5 is a perspect-ive view in detal of the insulating binding adapted to be applied to the lower extremitiesof the intermediate negative plates of the battery. Fig. 6 s a similar View of the insulating member adapted to be applied to the utermost negative 'plates on opposite ides of the elements. Fg.` 7 is a fragmenta ry section of a rid cutting the insulated edge thereof and llustrating the manner of applying the insulating substance. This is a section taken on the line 7 Fig. 2. v

i The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the negative plates of a cell of a storage battery which is designated in its entirety by the numeral 6. This cell is composed of a jar 7 inclosing a number of negative and ositive plates, the

.positive plates being desgnated by the nug tive plate are applied perforated insulating plates 9, while outside of each insulating.

plate is a member 10 providedwith longitudinally disposed separated ribs 2.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawing, it should be explained that the spaces left between the positive plates 8, and the negative elements 5, are exaggerated, in order to more clearly illustrate my insulating feature. In this figure, the insulating binding is applied to the lower extremitiesonlyof the negative plates. This binding, where applied to the intermediate lates of the cells, consists of U-shaped insu ating members 12 which are grooved to receive the plate, the said members consisting of a bottom part 13 and upright parts 14. When applied to the lower extremity of the negative plate, the member 12 engages the lower edge thereof, where it rests upon the partitions 15 located in the bottom of the jar. The parts 14 of this member also engage the opposite vertical edges of the plate for a considerable distance above the partitions 15, In the case of the ou'termost negative. plates 5, insulating members 16 are employed. These members are similar to the members 12 except that there is a art 17 which extends across the negative e ement on the outside, the

same being of a height equal to the vertical' parts of the members 12.

As illustrated in the drawing, the bottom.

of the jar is provided with a quantity of active material 18 which has sloughed ofi from the positive pia tes 8 of the cell during the charging and tlischarg'ing of the latter when in us'e. This material, as it dsintegrates, due to the Chemical action' of the cells. passes through the erforations of the insulating plates 9 amd t ence downwardly through the channels 19, between the ribs 2 of the Wood-members 10. As this material 18 accumulates and fills up to and touches the bottoms of the plates, it will form an electrical connection between the positive and negative plates of the cell which results, as heretofore explained, in the short-circuiting of the cell, with the result that the latter will discharge itself.

In the making of new batteries, it is preferr'ed that an insulating bindin designated in Fig. 2 by the numeral 21, sha l extend entirely around the outer free edge of each negative plate (see Fig. 2).

In the case of the outside plates, the insulatingq V across t e plate on the outside for a distance equal in height to the distance between the lower edge of the plate and the dotted line 22, in Fig. 2. i

As the construction of the battery in respects other than my improved means to p event short-circuiting of the cells between t e, positive and negative plates, is the samebinding should extend entirely' asin batteries heretofore in use, it will not be'necessary to des'cribe the battery in detail. It should be explained, however,.that the insulating binding applied to the negative plates is composed of such material that it may` be caused to adhere to the plates by clamping the same thereon by means of the spaces between the bars of the grid, 'thus making the binding self-retaining upon.the negative plates of the cells.

Referring to the insulating material as applied to the construction disclosed in Fig. 2 where the insulating binding or armor extends entirely around the outer or free edge of the that ths binding should be so applied by clamping it to and into the grid as to protect this part of the grid from contact with the battery solution. Any suitable means may be employed in connection with .the binding for protecting the free edge of the grid against the Corrosive action of the battery solution. This is important particularly with reference to the upper end of the grid, `since, if the battery solution comes in contact with this part of the grid, it results in an expansion or outward swelling of the grid, this phenomenon being termed, in the vernacular of the trade, as moss-growingl This expansion of the upper extremit' of the grid is frequently of such magnit'u e as to cause the grid to come in contact with the pillar-strap of the ositive element of the cell, resulting in short-circuiting the elements of the cell. My object is to prevent this result, and the insulating binding, when prpperly applied, will overcome the diflicu t Ii stead of using an insulating bindin already prepared, a liquid or semi-liqui enamel maybe applied to the edge of the grid to insulate the latter, after which the said enamel is hardened to retain it in place.

The insulation applied to the 'ed e of the grid should be flush with the bo y of the grid (see Fig. 7). In this event the grid should be made of special construction.'

In applying the enamel in liquid or semi-' liquid form, a better opportunity is given for *protecting the edge of the grid -against the 'd, *attention is called to the fact' channel shaped insulation into which said I by the 'edge bar is protected edgeb'ar fits tightly, and with which it forms aclose 'union at au adjacent points, one flange` of said insulaton being turned inwardly at right angles'tp engage said rabbet to hold the-nsulatio'n firmly in lace, whereom battery solution.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature n presence of two witnesses.

JASPER N. DAVIS.

Wtnesses:

A. J. (yBRIEN, A. M. NELsoN. 

